


i built an universe in you

by littlemagician



Series: on the edge of the galaxy [2]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Pre-OT3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-08 00:24:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5476130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlemagician/pseuds/littlemagician
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rey sees a lot of herself mirrored in Poe. </p><p>or: <i> "Cheers and spontaneous embraces filled the room with so much joy that no one paid any attention to who was hugging what representative of whichever species. Rey and Poe were not excluded [...]" from the Star Wars: TFA novelization by Alan Dean Foster.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	i built an universe in you

There are a lot of things in the universe that can bring two people close together, but the circumstances surrounding them were unique. When they manage to complete the map that would lead them to Luke, they finally taste one victory after so many losses. The joy spreads through the room as people embraced each other, in comfort and relief and hope, always hope.

Rey turns to the first person to her right, and even if it feels strange that the person is not Finn, she’s happy, it doesn’t matter. The man beside her seems not to care either, arms coming around her waist as they held each other, as tight as they could through the pain and exhaustion heavying their limbs.

It’s only a few seconds later that both seem to realize who they were, suddenly letting go of each other at the same time, atmosphere surrounding them forgotten and giving place to a cautious, awkward moment.

“Uh, Hi,” The pilot says almost quietly, slightly embarrassed. “I’m Poe.”

“I recognize the name,” Rey nods, giving him a good look, and – maybe it was the Force, or maybe it was something else, but she sees a lot of herself mirrored in him. Exhaustion, fear, hope. She knows what Ren did to him, the same he did with her, and maybe she knew superficially because Finn told her about it, but mostly she recognizes it in his eyes. She sees kindness, too, underneath everything, and she decides she likes it. She likes him.

“So you’re Poe. Poe Dameron, the x-wing pilot. I’m Rey.”

“I know,” He smiles this time, and it suits him well, Rey thinks, makes him look younger. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

She immediately fails to hide how her blood runs hot in her cheeks, not anywhere near being used to being talked about, let alone talked about like that. She used to be a no-one, never even had any family or friends before these people, and suddenly she was a hero to them.

“Only good things, I promise.” He says as he notices, smile growing just a bit more, but it’s easy and Rey lets herself smile a bit, too.

-

They started to getting to know each other by Finn’s bedside in the intensive care pod of the medical center. There was not a lot they let Poe do in the reparations of the x-wings, or Rey for her departure in search for Luke – Chewbacca was making sure everything was ready and absolutely refused to let her do any repairs on the Millenium Falcon unless it was absolutely necessary. If she was being honest, she was thankful for that. It didn’t feel right to not be there for Finn.

Poe seemed to agree, often coming to the room in that week smelling faintly of motor oil, hair falling in his eyes. They sat there, Rey on a chair beside the bed and Poe on the floor. In the first few moments there was silent, but it was the comfortable kind, the moment they would take to breathe and there, they didn’t have to pretend. There, Rey could grieve Han and look at Finn, unconscious in his medically induced coma, and feel as if half her hope had been severed from her and put to sleep.

Poe watched him, too. There was something in his eyes Rey recognized again. His – Now Finn’s jacket was hung on a chair on the corner of the room, looking rough but most likely soft from how much it had been used. Poe looked at Finn the way Finn looked at her, sometimes, but she tried not to dwell on that too much. There were things to do, Luke Skywalker to find, and so much to learn about herself and the Force – but right there she had felt it, in her bones and everywhere around her that they were supposed to be there together, all three of them, even if not in the best conditions.

-

“He told me about you.” She finds herself saying quietly as if talking to herself, and she’s almost surprised when Poe takes his eyes off of Finn and looks at her.

“He told me a lot about you, too.” He smiles.

“You’re,” She starts, but she’s not sure what she meant. “He’s going to need you.”

“I think I might need him more than he will need me.” Poe says. Rey wants to tell him she feels that way, too, but after spending her whole life depending on no one but herself, she finds the words stuck on her throat and won’t come out any soon. Somehow, Poe looks at her as if he already knows.

-

The more she feels being pulled towards her destiny by the Force, the more she feels herself being pulled away from Finn, who's still recovering, still unconscious. Sometimes when Poe and her were there, Poe would talk to Finn as if he could hear, tell him about the day, things that wouldn’t seem important to anyone but it mattered to Poe, it mattered to him that Finn knew. He had never minded that Rey was in there, always talked as if the three of them were having an actual conversation. It put him at ease, and Rey didn’t mind hearing him talk; it was comforting.

Up until that point, she hadn’t tried doing the same, but leaving without telling Finn something – anything – felt wrong.

She leans as closely as she can on the pod and presses her lips to his temple, feeling the skin slightly less warm than usual, but he feels alive, and if that’s the best she could get she’d take it.

“We’ll see each other again. I believe that. Thank you, my friend.” She says, and she knows it’s true as soon as the words come out. She hopes Finn knows too.

-

“Take care of yourself, Rey.” Poe tells her as he hugs her goodbye, and it’s less awkward than their first hug, but just as intense. When they part, she sees he’s concerned.

“Always have.” She reassures him.

“I know.” He says. “You’re– You’re so much greater than you can see.”

She feels herself blushing again, and almost curses Poe in her mind, how earnest he is sometimes, sayings the kind of things she never knows how to answer.

“I’ll be here for Finn when he wakes up.” He says when she doesn’t answer, almost predicting what her she’d say next.

“Thank you.” She replies, giving him a smile before making her way to General Organa.

-

In the distance, along with BB-8 and General Leia, Poe watches as the Millenium Falcon rises.

 

**Author's Note:**

> the hug DID happen in the novelization and also the whole ''rey looked at his face and liked it" girl same???? also sorry for the tense changes and all.
> 
>  
> 
> _Cheers and spontaneous embraces filled the room with so much joy that no one paid any attention to who was hugging what representative of whichever species. Rey and Poe were not excluded, though their sudden, tight clinch of shared excitement led to a moment of mutual awkwardness._  
>  “Uh, hi,” the pilot mumbled. “I’m Poe.”  
> She nodded slowly, searching his face and finding that she liked it. “I recognize the name. So you’re Poe. Poe Dameron, the X-wing pilot. I’m Rey.”  
> “I know.” He smiled back, a little more at ease. “Nice to meet you.”
> 
>  
> 
> _(Star Wars: The Force Awakens novelisation by Alan Dean Foster)_  
> 


End file.
